On the Trail of the Violent Hour with James Oswald Author on location in Edinburgh On the Trail of the Violent Hour with James Oswald

Today it's back to Mandie who is sharing her thoughts on Broken Ghosts by J.D. Oswald which is out in paperback tomorrow. I loved this book when I read it last year and you can find my review here. Here's what it's all about: Source: Owned CopyRelease Date: 25 September 2025 (Paperback)

Today I am delighted to be sharing my review of The Rest is Death, the brand new Inspector McLean novel from James Oswald, which just happens to be published today. Happy publication day. I know I hide it well, but I'm quite a fan of the books, so a new instalment is always a treat. My thanks to publisher, Wildfire, for the advance copy via Netgalley.

Okay, so this is getting scary. We have passed the 'everyone is grumpy because they have lost sleep' point of British time travel - aka British Summer Time, and I swear Christmas was only last week ... Okay, maybe not Christmas - pictures below indicate that I was in Copenhagen Zoo so I know that was not festive travel - but I am also not ready for the midweek moment where all businesses decide they are funny between the hours and ok midnight and 12:00 pm.

Welcome to quarter two folks, or as it is more commonly known, April. How the heck have we got here already? I mean, really? How? Meh. It's all good I suppose. The first three months have been filled with interesting travel and fabulous books, so life could be worse, right? More fun to look forward to this month as I am going to see Barnum, then more theatre and bookish goodness in May and June, hopefully even a trip to see my lovely, lovely puffin friends, so time passing by quickly is not necessarily a bad thing.

What a week. I was only in work for three days but they felt like the full five. All I can say is I am ever grateful that they were bookended by much better days. Monday we made the best of the Bank Holiday with a trip up the way to Peak Wildlife Park. Our first visit. No idea why, possibly because you say 'Peak District' it always seems further away than it actually is.

What a difference a week makes, huh? We have had some of the wet stuff. Yes, it has finally rained properly and, after what feels like a lifetime of hellishly hot nights, I finally feel like I am able to sleep all night long. Which couple with the not being able to walk before work because it's too dark, has made getting out of bed this week a struggle, but hey ho. Sleep! Rain! Bliss. That's about all I've been up to this week to be fair. Well that and buying books and eating far too many biscuits but that's okay.

#Bookvent - Celebrating my top reads of 2025 Bookvent day three sees me return to one of my all time favourite series. Set in Edinburgh, it seamlessly blends police investigation with supernatural elements, and a whole cast of characters that I absolutely love. Packed with unexpected, otherworldly happenings from the very beginning, this is a book that had me smiling with wicked glee right to the very last page.

#Bookvent - Celebrating my top reads of 2024 It's baaaaaack! Yes. It is December 1st and that means the start of my #bookvent countdown. For the uninitiated, #Bookvent is my version of an advent calendar, but rather then getting fat stuffing my face with far too much chocolate, I spend the month counting down my top reads from the year. I've read all of the books I am going to review in 2024, so I am safe calling it, but in order to whittle down my selection from the 160+ books I've read, I do set some rules which I try to stand by.

Here we are. March. Who'd a thunk it? Definitely feel like the year is passing too quickly, but not a bad thing as it means I also move closer to my holiday. Bring it on. Weird old week too. After my update last week about starting my new job, my old Manager asked me if I wanted my old job back.

We did it. We escaped the eternity that is January. Go us! 31 days never feels quite as long as it does in January but, strangely, it also feels far too soon for one whole month of the year to be done with already. I guess we're just never happy, right? The past month has been turbulent for me to say the least.

James Oswald, La Rêveuse, Florence Bolton, Benjamin Perrot · London circa 1740: Handel's musicians · Song · 2023

And here we are at the start of another week. The last full week in March. On the countdown to the clock changing again, and, better new for me, a succession of short working weeks. Training most of this week, but I'm off Friday afternoon and then not back in the office until Tuesday. Bargain. In fact, for one reason or another (plus all the Bank Holidays over April and May) I don't think I work another full week for about seven weeks.

That is another week over, and it's possibly the first time in a long time that I feel able to breathe. Having been informed about ten days before Christmas that I was due to be made redundant, I have just been offered a new role, again about ten days before I was due to finish the old one. A relief - yes.

James Oswald, Ronn McFarlane · The Celtic Lute · Song · 2018

Francis Poulenc, Paul Lewis, Steven Osborne · "'Whispers of Spring - Classical Works" · Song · 2026

James Oswald, La Rêveuse, Florence Bolton, Benjamin Perrot · London circa 1740: Handel's musicians · Song · 2023